14 British soldiers killed in Afghan air crash

LONDON, Sep 2 (Reuters) Fourteen British military personnel have been killed in a plane crash in Afghanistan, Sky Television quoted the Ministry of Defence as saying today.

Sky gave no further details on the cause of the crash, but quoted defence secretary Des Browne as calling the accident ''dreadful and shocking''.

NATO forces in Afghanistan earlier said that an alliance aircraft has crashed in the country, apparently after developing a technical problem.

''Enemy action has been discounted at this stage,'' NATO said in a statement.

It said the aircraft was supporting the NATO mission when it went down in the southern province of Kandahar.

A force spokesman, Major Scott Lundy, said he had no information about the aircraft, or how many people were on board.

Lundy said he had heard that the Taliban were claiming to have shot the aircraft down but he rejected that.

''Their claims are absolutely false,'' he said.

The Taliban, fighting to oust foreign forces, invariably claim to have shot down aircraft that foreign forces and the government say came down accidentally.

REUTERS AB KP2125